LOS ANGELES — An employee of Armorcase Products Company Inc., which is a fiberglass manufacturer, filed a class action lawsuit against his employer for wage and hour violations under the California Labor Code. The violations include failure to satisfy minimum wage requirements, unpaid overtime, and failure to provide sufficient rest and meal breaks. The suit seeks to represent a separate class for each alleged violations with at least 200 members in each class consisting of current and former non-exempt employees.
Minimum Wage and Overtime
The plaintiffs allege that the company regularly and systematically paid non-exempt employees only for their scheduled hours rather than hours actually worked, which often exceeded their scheduled hours. California’s minimum wage is $9 per hour, and requires employees to be paid time-and-a-half beyond eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Employees must also be paid double their ordinary pay after 12 hours in a day if they are working beyond eight hours on their seventh consecutive day of work in a week.
Additionally, the plaintiffs claim that the company rounded down the hours employees worked in an arbitrary way, which led to workers not being paid the state minimum wage or overtime for some of the hours they worked. In California, rounding down is only permissible if the manner in which the rounding does not result, over a period of time, in failure to compensate the employees properly for all the time they have actually worked.
Meal and Rest Breaks
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that employees were allowed a meal break only after five hours at work and were not allowed a second break for meals after 10 hours. Additionally, the company allegedly only allowed workers one rest break after eight hours at work. Under California law, employers must provide workers with no less than a thirty-minute meal period when the work period is more than five hours, during which the employee is relieved of all duty and is free to leave the employer’s premises. Additionally, employers must permit a net 10-minute rest period for every four hours worked and, as much as possible, the rest period should be in the middle of the work period. If either required break is not provided, employers are required to pay one hour of pay that a meal break or rest period that an employee is unable to take.
If you or someone you know has a claim for unpaid minimum or overtime wages, or is being deprived of meal and rest breaks that are required by law, you should call (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page. Our top rated team of wage lawyers will evaluate your situation to determine your best course of action. We will also determine if it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit against your employer. There are strict time limitations for filing so it is important that you call our experienced attorneys today.